A wellness escape in Italy's South Tyrol

In its collision of cultures, South Tyrol is reminiscent of the old joke that defines Heaven as where the chefs are Italian, the police British and the lovers French. The joke doesn’t mention the Austrians, but if it did, they could be the house builders. For though this little known region bordered by Austria and Switzerland has been Italian since the First World War, its gloriously green alpine slopes are dotted with the prettiest of wooden chalets.

It’s easy to miss the entrance to San Luis amongst all this bucolic splendour. The electric gates opening onto a winding woodland road evoke a feeling of passing through a hidden portal. The sense of other-worldliness is reinforced by the mysteriously motionless clock in reception and when co-owner Alex Meister explains the hotel is built from mondholz – timber harvested according to the phases of the moon.

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Wood is integral to the soul-soothing character of San Luis, where 22 chalets - with from one to four bedrooms – and 16 treehouses are clustered around a glassy lake to form a magical mountain village. Done up in creamy linens and grey slate, the spacious chalets have hot tubs as well as saunas, while the one-bedroom treehouses have views over the pristine alpine parkland to jagged peaks beyond. All have a kitchen and dining area to which breakfast – your choice of fruit, local breads, meats and cheeses, and eggs to cook yourself – is discreetly delivered each morning by golf cart.

The bar and restaurant areas, scented with logs burning in open hearths and lit at night by hundreds of hurricane-lamp candles, are in the central lakeside chalet. In keeping with South Tyrol’s multiculturalism, the menu offers wiener schnitzel and speck dumplings alongside antipasti and osso buco, and salads colourful with locally grown edible flowers.

From the double-height, barn-style indoor pool, you can swim out to a heated pool that seems to melt into the lake. As well as a gym, sauna and steam room, the spa has six treatment rooms. There’s no faux orientalism here – Italian ballads provided the soundtrack to my rigorous massage.

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Spa enthusiasts will enjoy sampling some of the unusual treatments available in the thermal centre at Merano – such as an apple lather scrub (the region is a major apple producer). The town is a 20-minute drive from San Luis and became popular for its curative climate and spring waters after a visit by the Austro-Hungarian Empress Elisabeth. Modern visitors might favour mountain hiking over promenading, but both have a restorative effect – especially when followed by a glass of excellent South Tyrolean wine.

San Luis costs from 300 euros a night per person in a chalet or treehouse, half board, for a minimum three-night stay (sanluis-hotel.com). For more about South Tyrol, visit suedtirol.info/en.